Soft-tread horseshoe.



No. 644,329. Patented Feb. 27, |900. A. M. MEISNER.

SOFT TREAD HURSESHOE.

(Application filed. Mat. 25, 1899.)

(No Model.)

1H: nonm's mins co. warum-mo.. wAsHmn'rcN n c Nrrnn STATESr ANTHONY M.MEISNER, OF'CIIICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SOFT-TREAD HORSESHO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,329, dated February27, 1900.

Application iiled March 25, 1899. Serial No. 710,465. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY M. MEISNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Soft-Tread Horseshoes,of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to that classl of horseshoes that areprovided with soft treads; and the object of the invention is to providean improved shoe of this class.

To this end the invention consists in the features of novelty that arehereinafter described. A

In the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of thisspecification, Figure l is an under side view of a horseshoe embodyingthe invention. Fig. 2 is a section thereof on the line 2 2, Fig. 1.Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively a side elevation and a front elevationthereof.

The shoe comprises a light skeleton frame A, made of metal; an elastictread B, secured to the frame; a plate or diaphragm C, also secured tothe frame and adapted to completely cover the bottom of the foot withinthe inner boundary of the frame, and an elastic tread D, so disposedthat it will be di.- rectly beneath and receive the pressure of thefrog. The skeleton frame consists of a casting having a channel inwhichthe body portion b of the tread B fits and is secured by somesuitable means, preferably by pins E, that are passedy through openingsin the depending flanges a ct of the frame, the heads of the pins beingcountersunk in the flange a and their ends being split and spread afterpassing through the flange ct'. The outer flange d is provided at thefront with a downward extension a2, and at their rear ends the twoflanges merge in downward extensions a3, said extensions a2 and ctsbeing continued downward far enough to bring their lower edgessubstantially flush with the solid portion of the elastic tread B. Theelastic tread is provided with horizontal lianges b', which overlap theflanges a a between the projections a2 and o3, but which terminate atsaid projections, so as to leave the faces of the projections uncovered.This I regard as an important departure from the heretofore-existingpractice of providing the elastic tread with a continuous flange whichoverlaps the outer liange of the shoe throughout its entire Theobjection to this latter construction is that the skuffing of the horsesfoot will not only tear the flange at the toe portion thereof, but willhave a tendency to rip the tread out of its channel. With theconstruction shown in the drawings and above described this is notpossible, and a further advantage is that it provides a metal bearing atthe points of greatest wear and in this way protects and prolongs thelife of the elastic tread. Preferably the solid portion of the elastictread terminates substantially in the plane of the lower edges of theprojections d2 and a3, and preferably below this plane the tread isprovided with projections in the forni of intersecting ribs, which areWithout any substantial supporting strength, but which neverthelessserve to prevent slipping.

So far as the features already described are concerned the tread may bemade entirely of rubber; but I prefer to provide it with a core F ofsome less-elastic material, and for this purpose I prefer to use a pieceof tightlytwisted rope,of non-metallic fibrous material, which isembedded in and completely surrounded by the. rubber, the rope beingdisposed quite near the surface of the tread and about central withrelation to the sides thereof at any given point. The openings throughwhich the fastening-pins E pass are formed through the portion h of thetread above the core F. The advantages of this core are that it addsmaterially to the strength and dura- A bility of the tread, and inaddition to this it provides at the central part of the tread a mediumof greater resistance than the rubber, with the result that the centralportion of the tread offers greater resistance to compression than theportion at the side thereof. It is found in practice that this tends toprevent the flanges a a from cutting the flanges b' and in this andother ways adds very materially to the durability of the tread.

rIhe skeleton frame is provided also with an inwardly-presented flangea", to which the plate or diaphragm C is secured by means of screws c, apacking G, of elastic material, being interposed between the plate C andflange a" for the double purpose of preventing any rattling and ofpreventing the screws c from working loose. This flange a is located aconsiderable distance above the plane of the lower face of the shoe, sothat the plate C, which is secured to it, is too high for contact withthe ground under ordinary conditions. In order to preserve theelasticity of the plate C to a limited extent, the openings c', throughwhich the screws c pass, are somewhat larger than the shanks of thescrews.

In addition to the above advantages incident to the use of the plate Cit provides convenient means for attaching the auxiliary tread D to themain frame of the shoe. This tread D is independent of the main treadand consists of a block or pad of elastic material secured by pins CZ orother suitable means in a socket D', the socket being in turn secured tothe plate C by means of rivets d. It is the intention to locate thistread D between the heel portions of the main frame, so that it will bedirectly beneath the frog of the foot, and it is the intention also tomake it approximately the same shape in outline as the frog. The objectof this tread D is to relieve the heels of a considerable proportion ofthe weight and throw it onto the frog, and to this end I prefer to usefor the tread D a pad which projects downward to a plane slightly belowthe plane of the lower face of the main tread B.

That I claim as new is- 1. A soft-tread horseshoe having a skeletonframe provided with depending flanges resulting ina channel, an elastictread having a portion occupying said channel, and means for securingthe elastic tread in place, the outer flange of the frame being providedat the toe with a downward extension terminating approximately in theplane of the lower face of the elastic tread and the elastic tread beingprovided with flanges which overlap the outer flanges of the frame butwhich terminate at the downward extension ot' the toe, whereby the loweredge of said downward extension is left uncovered, substantially as setforth.

2. A soft-tread shoe havingaskeleton frame provided with dependingflanges resulting in a channel, an elastic treadhaving a portionoccupying said channel, and means for sesuring the elastic tread inplace, the flanges being provided at the toe and at the heel withdownward extensions terminating approximately in the plane of the lowerface of the elastic tread, substantially as set forth.

3. A soft-tread shoe having a frame provided with depending flangesresulting in a channel, an elastic tread having a portion oecupying saidchannel, and means for securing the elastic tread in place, the flangesbeing provided at the toe and heel with downward extensions terminatingapproximately in the plane of the lower' face of the elastic tread,

and the elastic tread being provided between said downward extensionswith lateral flanges overlapping the flanges of the frame, substantiallyas set forth.

4. A soft-tread shoe having a frame, an elastic tread consisting of abody of rubber or similar elastic material, and an elastic core ofnon-metallic fibrous material embedded in and surrounded bythe rubber,and means for securing the elastic tread in place, substantially as setforth.

5. A soft-tread shoe having a frame provided with depending flangesresulting in a channel, an elastic tread having a portion occupying saidchannel, said elastic tread consisting of a body of rubber or similarelastic material, and an elastic core of non-metallic fibrous materialembedded in and surrounded by the rubber,the core being disposed betweenthe depending flanges of the frame so as to extend both above and belowtheir lower edges,and means for securing the elastic tread in place,substantially as set forth.

6. A soft-tread shoe having a frame provided with depending flangesresulting in a channel, an elastic tread consisting of a body of rubberor similar elastic material, and an elastic core of non-metallic ropeembedded in and surrounded by the rubber, said core being disposed nearthe lower face of the tread and between the depending flanges of theframe, and means for securing the elastic tread in place, substantiallyas set forth.

7. A soft-tread shoe having a frame provided with depending flangesresulting in a channel, an elastic tread consisting of a body of rubberor similar elastic material and an elastic core of non-metallic ropeembedded in and surrounded by the rubber, the core being disposed nearthe lower face of the tread and between the depending flanges,and meansfor securing the elastic tread in place, the frame being provided at thetoe and at the heel with downward extensions terminating approximatelyin the plane of the lower face of the elastic tread, and the elastictread being provided with lateral flanges overlapping the outer flangesof the frame and terminating at said downward extensions, substantiallyas set forth.

S. A horseshoe having an inwardly-presented flange a" located aconsiderable distance above the plane of the lower face of the shoe, aplate conforming to the inner contour of the shoe, and means passingthrough perforations in the plate for securing it to the flange, saidperforations being enlarged to preserve the elasticity of the plate,substantially as set forth.

ANTHONY M. MEISNER.

Vitxlesses:

L. M. HOPKINS, BERTHA C. Sins.

IOO

IIO

IZO

